The Beast and the Unlikely Beauty
by drama fixated
Summary: He was the cruel, obnoxious prince. She was the plain girl who one night stumbled into his castle in search for her father. A retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," Harry x Hermione style.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: _Beauty and the Beast _is not mine; it belongs to its respective creators. Harry Potter is also not mine – it's all J.K. Rowling's and other companies'. The only thing that I own is this fic.

Summary: He was the cruel, obnoxious prince. She was the plain girl who one night stumbled into his castle in search for her father. A retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," Harry/Hermione style.

Author's Note: I couldn't help but notice that while retellings of BATB using the HP characters run rampant on the web, with either Ron/Draco, Harry/Ginny, Draco/Ginny, Draco/Hermione, Harry/Draco or Ron/Hermione being the main ship, there hasn't been a Harry/Hermione version of the tale. (I could be wrong though . . . who knows?)

So I decided to write one. It's a bit different from the original – you'll see what I mean when you read the story. If I try to explain it, I'll just end up confusing people.

Enjoy . . I hope?

This is a birthday present for one of my best online friends, **Courtney**. Since she's been so patient and wonderful – I decided to write this as a thank you to her. Happy birthday, and keep on rockin', girl!

**The Beast and the Unlikely Beauty**

Prologue: From Bratty Prince to Hideous Beast

* * *

In a kingdom right at the edge of southern England, there ruled a prince.

He wasn't your typical "Prince Charming," however – he was selfish, rude, obnoxious and cruel.

And he was neither blonde nor blue-eyed; rather, his eyes were a bright bottle green, his hair was of messy black and couldn't be tamed, and he was a skinny little runt. Even at eighteen, when this story takes place.

As a result, everyone in the castle, to appease him, did what they were told to do and were silent.

He was allowed to do whatever he pleased, and generally made all the castle servants' lives miserable because of his own misery that he wrought on them.

No one dared to go against him and his orders; their fate lay in the prince's hands, and they didn't want to meet a miserable end. So they kept on being quiet, except when they were talking amongst themselves whenever the prince wasn't near.

He hadn't always been this way; after his parents, the honorable King James and Queen Lily, had died from the plague when he had been one year old, and he had grown up knowing no parental figure who would give him love, he turned from the mischievous, cheerful boy he had been before to a selfish, superficial creature.

After he had reached the "marriageable age" of sixteen, it only got worse when the Honorable Lady Cho Chang, whom he had fancied for the longest while, rejected him in favor of the Honorable Lord Cedric Diggory.

This rejection caused his heart to go cold and he turned into a tyrant; becoming more recluse and vile than ever. One fateful night, that all changed.

It was a frosty winter night; everyone in the castle was tucked up cozily in their beds, except for the prince.

He sat alone in the west wing; his favorite place to sit and think. He gazed out the window at the twinkling stars above – and cursed, even when he had done this many times before, the fact that his parents were dead, and he had no one to help him heal his anguish.

The only way he could hide his pain was to be mean to others; it didn't give him any pleasure though; it only made his hurt and sadness worse.

Suddenly, he tensed. Someone else was in the room.

He turned around; and was spooked to see an old crone gazing unblinkingly at him. It was creepy to feel those eyes on him; it was if they were scrutinizing him and his innermost thoughts.

"What do you want?" He asked politely, wishing those eyes would stop looking at him as if he were something interesting to inspect.

"I was walkin' though and happened to look on this castle; I was hopin' for a place to stay in for the nigh', as it's cold and an old woman like me can't sleep out there." A pause. "Can I sleep here?"

"No." His voice was flat.

"Surely you would take an old woman in for the nigh'?" She asked inquisitively. "Seeing as she can't survive out there in the cold by herself?"

She offered him a beautiful rose, hoping to tempt him and make him agree. Unfortunately for her, he had no regard for beauty now, after having sealed his heart to anything that was beautiful – including love.

And little did he know that it was an enchanted rose; one that he would depend his life on.

"No." He said again. His heart had hardened long ago; not even an old woman would make him charitable. "Find some other place to stay. You can't lodge here for the night."

At that, the old woman's eyes flared, and a _WHOOSH _could be heard. The prince could scarcely believe what he was seeing; she was transforming right before his eyes!

When the sparkling swirls of magic disappeared, he caught his breath; for in front of him was not an aged, but a beautiful lady!

At that moment she didn't look beautiful, though, for her eyes were fiery and her face was contorted with anger.

Immediately the prince realized his mistake. "Please forgive me, I'm sorry; you can stay here as long as you want." He begged. He knew the lady for who she was now; she was an enchantress.

"I'm afraid you're too late," the lady replied coldly. "You're selfish and have closed your heart to everyone. Upon seeing me when I was weak and aged, you refused to shelter me here from the cold, but when you saw my true form, you're _now_ offering me a refuge! I shall have to teach you a lesson – since you've learned to love no one, no one shall learn to love you."

The prince begged forgiveness again, but the lady, whose name was Narcissa, paid him no heed. Raising her hand, she created magical swirls that surrounded him. When she lifted her hand again, the swirls vanished, and uncovered a hideous beast; dark furred, yellow-eyed, and snarling uproariously.

"From now on," she fixed him with a steely glare, "you shall know what it's like to not loved and _be _loved back by someone else. In return for your _kindness_," she threw the rose on the floor, "I've decided to give you this rose, as your last chance to redeem yourself. You see how some of the petals are falling? By the time the last petal falls on your twenty-first birthday, you must have found someone who loves you for you, and see the true beauty that's inside you. If not, you shall remain a beast forever."

With this last declaration, she disappeared.

The prince, now turned beast, looked at the floor, and roared angrily. Now he knew his fate – there was no way someone would love him, and so he was to stay a beast, repulsive and vile, forever!

After all . . . who could ever learn to love a beast?


	2. Chapter One: Hermione

1**Disclaimer:** _Beauty and the Beast _is not mine; it belongs to its respective creators. Harry Potter is also not mine - it's all J.K. Rowling's and other companies'. The only thing that I own is this fic.

**Summary:** He was the cruel, obnoxious prince. She was the plain girl who one night stumbled into his castle in search for her father. A retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," Harry/Hermione style.

**Author's Note:** I'll be honest - I really don't like this chapter that much. It contains nothing but exposition, and it was really troublesome to write. Nevertheless, I'll keep my fingers crossed on the next one being better.

I would like to say thank you so much for the reviews, everyone. :) I honestly didn't expect to get that many. Shows how wrong authors can be sometimes, eh?

And lastly, Mark's is a bookshop located in Hermione's village.

Enjoy . . I hope?

This goes out to **Courtney**, once again. Thanks for being such a wonderful friend, hon.

**- - -**

**The Beast and the Unlikely Beauty**

**- - -**

Chapter One: Hermione

* * *

While the prince locked himself up in his castle to wallow in his gloom and misery, a nearby village was buzzing with activity.

It was a normal day for the people; some walked to market, looking for bargains, others chatted with their neighbors, and yet there were those who simply sat quietly in the background and just watched the hubbub going on all around them.

The clamor died down once all of the villagers caught sight of Mr. Granger, the local inventor, and his daughter, Hermione.

This was an unusual occurrence - rarely, if ever, did the Grangers venture out of their home that was located at the outskirts of the village. And seldom did anyone ever see Mr. Granger himself; the man was always busy inventing something interesting or trying to fix whatever did not work - which most of the time were his inventions.

They would see Hermione all the time, though - "always with a head in a book," remarked many of them.

They considered her to be even odder than her father - "who reads all the time with her head buried in the pages of a book, and never thinks to have fun?" complained a few.

"A right clone to her crazy inventor of a father," commented those who were completely tactful.

To go with that reasoning, the Grangers themselves were considered "odd" - they seldom socialized, and absorbed themselves with the (seemingly) mundane - namely, books and inventions.

It was also believed that ever since Mr. Granger's wife died of the plague a few years ago, he had lost all interest in his life, and now only filled his hours with inventing all sorts of whimsical, funny things.

The same could be said for his daughter, Hermione, who was known as the village book lover. She could be seen walking through the town avidly reading a book, and when she was done with it, she would go to Mark's and borrow a new one. It was a continuing cycle: the more Hermione read, the more she became enthralled with what books held within their pages.

It was honestly no wonder that the villagers thought this way, seeing as they led rather mundane lives themselves, and didn't bother with other people's affairs. They wouldn't understand either, as the Grangers found their greatest joy in reading and discovering new things.

On this particular day, though, while everyone was busy staring at the Grangers as if they'd never seen them before, the subjects in question were going about their own business, as if nothing was wrong. They noted the stares, but ignored them. People's interest would eventually dwindle, they thought. And they were right. The villagers' attention soon shifted onto other things and chatter reached a fever pitch.

One person, however, kept his gaze fixed firmly on the Grangers. Beside him, a rather stout and plump whale of a person watched, stuffing his face with cake.

The taller person maliciously smirked. "Would you look at that, Dudley? It's the Mudblood Grangers - I never thought that they'd actually have the courage to venture out of their safe little safety net.

"I wonder though," he pondered, "Old Man Granger hasn't been seen here for many months; d'you suppose that he's making yet another kooky device that will never work?"

"That's a rhetorical question, Draco," the chubby man retorted, "I'd almost bet my money on it." He hiccuped.

"Honestly, you're such a pig," Draco muttered, disgusted. Then a evil glint appeared in his eyes. "Too bad, though - Granger's daughter is dead useful. She would be a perfect puppet for me. Mine to control." His eyes glittered. "And what better opportunity to marry her than now?"

Dudley nearly spit out a mouthful of cake. "_Wh-what?_" he sputtered, coughing. "Have you gone _mad_, Draco?"

"No, no," the blond man chuckled softly. "Actually, this fits perfectly into my plan." There was a tinge of something underlying his words.

"But what could you possibly want from them?" Dudley asked, bewildered. "They have absolutely nothing that is of any importance to you. No wealth, no high social status to speak of - well, granted, you belong to the richest family in town, so that's of no concern to you."

Draco smirked again. "You're missing the point, my dear Dudley. Although the Grangers don't have anything to speak of - they do need something. _Wealth_. And I'll be the one to give it to them."

This time, Dudley stared at him, as if his idol had truly gone mad. "What?" he said stupidly.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Come with me and see the master at work," he said smoothly, and walked off, his cape billowing behind hm.

- - -

"_Hermione! Oh_, _Hermione!_"

The girl in question stopped walking, reluctantly closed her book and looked at the dashing young man who was now by her side. "Hello, Draco," she greeted warmly.

He looked surreptitiously at the book and then grabbed it.

Hermione stifled the urge not to huff impatiently at him. "May I have my book back, please?"

"How can you _read_ this?" He wondered, gaping. "There's no pictures!"

"Some people use their imaginations," a small smile formed on her mouth.

He sighed heavily, as if he were disappointed in her. "Hermione, Hermione . . it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things . . like me!" He grinned and threw her book into a nearby mud puddle.

Hermione looked at him doubtfully.

"It's not right for a woman to read," he continued, delighting in the fact that he had her attention now, "soon she gets ideas . . . and actually thinking . . "

"You're absolutely primeval, Draco," Hermione said, amused, picking up her mud splattered book and cleaning it with her apron.

"Why, thank you, Hermione," he flashed her a charming smile, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "What do you say you and me take a walk over to the tavern and have a look at my archery trophies."

"Maybe some other time," she said firmly. "I can't - I have to get home and help my father." And with that, she left.

"See the pro at work, huh?" sneered Dudley, appearing from behind Draco. "That was masterful, Draco."

The blond huffed. "I'll get her yet," he vowed. "Mark my words here and now: I will, or the Malfoy name shall be tarnished forever and I'll be forced to live in shame for the rest of my life."

"Sure, you do that," Dudley whispered quietly to himself. "You do that, Draco."

_- - -_

**Author's Note 2: **And that concludes chapter one. I know that it's shorter than the prologue - but I wanted to cut it off here, in preparation for what's coming up. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :) And if not, please tell me your questions/annoyances/comments about it, or the story in general, and I'll give you my best answer.


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